Masks

The concepts of “self” and “identity” are very close to each one of us.

One of my favorite authors, Luigi Pirandello, strongly believed that these concepts are lost and unachievable in human beings.

We wear different masks that cover our real identity,

sometimes it’s self-imposed,

in most cases it’s forced on by society.

“Uno, nessuno e centomila”

“One, none and a hundred thousand”

We live in one body,

we are alive,

but who are we?

We are nobody,

we are a hundred thousand.

There are lots of different versions of ourselves,

but we do not know which is the real one,

probably we’ll never know.

We are used to the models society imposes,

we wouldn’t be able to live in this world without wearing some kinds of masks,

everything would be a mess,

we would live in an anarchic world.

In theory it would be wonderful,

in practice it would be chaotic.

Even if it’s hard to accept that we are not completely free,

we have to keep on wearing masks.

I just want you to think about it.

I don’t want you to take off your masks because you can’t,

I want you to notice how and when your behavior changes,

I need you to be aware of it.

I want you to find the masks you like the most

and I want you to wear them a bit more.

There are not wrong versions of yourself,

you just have to realize which ones you like best.

P.S

This is a topic I really enjoy writing about, so let me know if you’d like me to post more posts about it.